The History of Fighting

Title:  Sasaki kojiro

Date:  c. 1815

Artist:  Ashihiro Harukawa

Infomation:  This painting depicts the Kabuki actor Ohtani Tomoemon, playing the role of samurai warrior Sasaki Kojiro who meet his end in his famous ill-fated duel with Miyamoto Musashi on Ganryu Island. Kojiro was everything a samurai warrior was expected to be and followed the local Bushido code to the letter. However he was infuriated by his opponent’s lack of respect when Musashi turned up late, was dressed like a tramp and fought, so the legend goes, with a bokken (wooden sword) he had fashioned out of a spare oar on the journey to the island.

Jitte, performed by sensei Imura Takenori with application from Masatoshi Nakayama

Jitte literally means Ten Hands and the name may imply that one must have the strength of ten men, which is how Masatoshi Nakayama interpreted it in his book, Best Karate, Volume 7, (seen by many as a definitive guide to Shotokan kata). An alternative theory is that the name may derive from the raised fists hand position from within the kata, which is said to looks similar to a type of Sai known as a Jitte that was carried by police on Okinawa during the 19th century.

Like its sister kata Jion and Ji’in, Jitte begins with the kamae of the left hand covering the right fist which may suggest roots in ancient Kung Fu. It was taught as a part of the Tomari-te Okinawan karate style and has elements of Gyaku-te grappling techniques. Its main function however is to teach defence against weapons, in particular the Bo Staff and helps the karateka develop pliable bones and muscles.

More Kata History

This image depicts the moment of inspiration for the invention of the art of Tai Chi Chuan, at least according to some sources. Chang Sanfeng is thought to have watched a fight between a snake and a bird in the 15th century and got the idea to build a style of fighting around his extensive knowledge of Taoist philosophy and internal energy.

A young Chojun Miyagi and Juhatsu Kyoda practising what appears to be an
application of the Okinawan kata Saifa.

Title:  The Bruiser Bruis'D, Or, the Knowing-Ones Taken-In

Date:  1750

Artist:  Unknown

Infomation:  Engraving of the fight between John 'Jack' Broughton and Jack Slack. Broughton was an instrumental influence on the early boxing scene after introducing the first rules aimed at providing some safety measures for fighters. In contrast Slack, after winning this fight and become the champ, went on to become the first known person to fix prize fights; he is also credited with inventing the rabbit punch, a particularly dangerous blow to the neck or to the base of the skull.

Sun Lu-t'ang (or Sun Lutang) was a master of the internal arts and was instrumental in the invention of the syncretic art of Sun-style t'ai chi ch'uan. Born in 1860, he was also an expert in Neo-Confucian and Taoist scholarly pursuits and was a master at two other internal martial arts; xingyiquan (hsing-i ch'uan) and baguazhang (pa-kua chang). He came to t’ai chi relatively late in life but mastered it very quickly and spent much of his later career teaching t’ai chi to members of the public at the Beijing Physical Education Research Institute.

Mestre Bimba teaching a student how to do the most basic movement of capoeira, known as the ginga.